Today’s Scripture Reading
(October 15, 2018): Leviticus 26
Our contemporary system of
International understanding began with a series of treaties signed between May
and October 1648. The result of these treaties is known as the “Peace of
Westphalia.” The peace ended a period of religious (Christian) war in Europe
which caused the death of approximately eight million people. Specifically, the
“Peace of Westphalia” ended the “Thirty Years War” (1618-1648) which saw
Catholics and Protestants take up arms against each other within the realm of
the Holy Roman Empire, as well as ending the “Eighty Years War” (1568-1648)
between Spain and the Dutch Republic. (On a personal note, it was at or near
the end of the “Eighty Years War” that some of my ancestors left Europe and
moved to New Amsterdam, or what is now New York City.) The Peace of Westphalia
first instituted a move away from city-states toward an idea that nations held
sovereignty to reign within their national border. The legacy of the Peace of
Westphalia is found in the idea of the
inviolability (or sacredness) of borders and the principle of the non-interference
of nations in the domestic affairs of other sovereign states.
At the close of this section of
the Law is the simple statement that these agreements were made at Mount Sinai. The implication is that these laws were
handed down directly from God to Moses. While other laws and treaties would
arise and disappear over time, these maintain the permanence of being between
God and man. The process of Sinai began
with a time when the people of Israel cried out to God as slaves in Egypt. They
believed that God no longer cared for them because of their situation. At
Sinai, God’s care for Israel and Israel’s worship of God was given an objective reality in these
regulations. The Law of Sinai gave both responsibilities to the people about their relationship with God, each other
and foreigners to the nation, as well as God’s responsibilities to the people.
For Israel, these laws were to maintained throughout history.
Soon after the death and
resurrection of Jesus, the question began to be
explored about how the Laws of Moses might relate to people who were not
a part of Israel. Some argued that the Law of Moses or the Peace of Sinai was
intended for all people, no matter from what race or nationality they might
arise. But parts of the Law, and especially circumcision, were offensive to
these other people groups. A conflict started between the legalists who believed
the Law of Sinai was for all and those who believed that the Law of Sinai was
only for the people of Israel. As Gentile Christians, it seems that we
sometimes forget that the issue was settled by
the early church. The short statement is
included in Acts 15 that should settle the question.
The apostles and
elders, your brothers,
To
the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and
Cilicia:
Greetings.
We have heard that some went out from us without our
authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we
all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends
Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas
to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy
Spirit and to us not to burden you with
anything beyond the following requirements: You are to
abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled
animals and from sexual immorality. You will
do well to avoid these things.
Farewell
(Acts 15:23b-29).
While the Peace of Sinai may
well still be in effect for Israel, for those of us who were not included in the Sinai agreement, the law boils down to
Jesus command to Love God and our neighbor, and to “abstain
from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals
and from sexual immorality.” We would do well to do these things.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 27
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